Style: Power metal, progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Angra, Evergrey, Firewind
Country: Italy
Release date: 22 May 2026

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Italian power metal has always been my home. From initial discovery, it became king among the first subgenres I was exposed to, and its melodic and anthemic sonic landscapes still reverberate loudly within me, even if I have since migrated to other musical territories. In some ways, the style firmly roots me to a homeland I left as a teen many years ago. Keeping up with name releases means I’m dialed in to a small part of the local scene, and some of the bigger outfits that are able to venture overseas to Toronto have even left their mark in ink on the large green-white-and-red flag that hangs on my wall. A few years now I’ve been aware of the growing strength of Tuscany’s scene in particular, with an army of dwarves at the forefront.¹ But smaller acts play just as loudly, and the marble stone of Massa’s metalliferous hills echoes the sounds of one such outfit: Vision Divine. 

Vision Divine are a group who have few misses in their expansive discography and have been considered among the top power metal bands Italy has to offer long before their newest album, A Clockwork Reverie. The album delivers on those laurels with another impeccable performance, showcasing their propensity for razor sharp riffing and saccharine hooks that catch your ear and never let go, supported by clockwork drumming and sprinkled with virtuosic guitar and keyboard soloing. The album displays Vision Divine’s masterful progressive power metal songwriting, with each arrangement maintaining their recognizable musical identity, deftly crafted over nearly thirty years of the band’s career. 

After a French spoken-word intro, the album really opens with the self-titled “A Clockwork Reverie”, which changes gear three times just from the intro to the first verse, exhibiting frequent increases in pace, and delivering huge overdubbed choruses over a machine-gun kick. “18 (It Feels Like Heaven)” brings down the tempo some and hearkens vocalist Michele Luppi’s more 80s AOR-oriented sensibilities², with shimmery reverberant guitars, a polished melodic lead, and an easily memorable refrain. Luppi’s delicate and agile countertenor provides an emotive attribute to the vocal work that’s, in this reviewer’s opinion, of a decidedly higher quality than many of his contemporaries. Stepping back to their power metal leanings, “Andromeda” starts with some heavy riffing and a wicked synth lead before speeding up to a more blistering tempo with a high-octane and demanding keyboard and guitar duel that’s typical of the band’s style. 

Technical and energetic, A Clockwork Reverie taps into classic power/prog elements without becoming tropey. It’s apparent that the divine vision which mastermind and guitarist Olaf Thörsen has for the band has never waned, and touching back on what I said about a recognizable musical identity, the later half of A Clockwork Reverie includes three tracks from past Vision Divine albums that have been re-recorded for this release, from 2004’s Stream of Consciousness, 2005’s The Perfect Machine, and 2007’s The 25th Hour. While these arrangements remain mostly untouched, the updated production breathes new life into works I was already intimately familiar with, making the tracks more congruent with Vision Divine’s contemporary work—even if the band’s core sound has not significantly changed throughout their career. They also provide a springboard for those looking to dig into their earlier discography, as the tracks have been cherry-picked from some of the band’s most successful works.

A Clockwork Reverie includes a variety of the standard features of any good Vision Divine album and is a sufficiently interesting, if short, addition to their discography. Of note is that this is the first release to feature this lineup in some nineteen years; the cynic in me is ready to admit that sometimes returning to a classic lineup can be a recipe for success instead of merely a rehashing of glory days gone by³, although I don’t necessarily think stacking a new release with half re-recorded songs is the best way to go about it. Still, with nary a stumbling moment on the album, the band holds firm their position in the upper echelons of the Italian metal scene. 

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Recommended tracks: Andromeda, 18 (It Feels Like Heaven), A Clockwork Reverie
You may also like: Labÿrinth, DGM, Secret Sphere
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Scarlet Records

Vision Divine is:
– Michele Luppi (vocals)
– Olaf Thörsen (guitars)
– Andrea Torricini (bass)
– Oleg Smirnoff (keyboards)
– Matt Peruzzi (drums)

1. I refer here to Wind Rose, who are notably from Pisa, Tuscany ↩︎
2. Notably his work in Whitesnake, and solo project Los Angeles ↩︎
3. Looking at you, various iterations of Rhapsody, Angra ↩︎